YOUTH SOFTBALL: Blitz steams to two titles

The Bay State Blitz, the 12U traveling team from the Brooklawn Park-based Bay State Girls Softball League, recently won back-to-back tournament championships.

STAFF REPORT

The Bay State Blitz, the 12U traveling team from the Brooklawn Park-based Bay State Girls Softball League, recently won back-to-back tournament championships.

They began the tournament season by hosting a 10-team 12U event in early June at Brooklawn Park in New Bedford. After falling into the losers' bracket, the Blitz fought through five straight games on Sunday. Amber Massa led the team by pitching four out of those five games, with Molly O'Leary catching all five games behind the plate. The Blitz lost the fifth game by one run during an international tiebreaker, taking third place in the tournament.

Then, it was on to the Fairhaven tournament, where great performances by Kristen Fuller, Hannah Carvalho, Brianne Bindas and Courtney Tavares led the team, until a rain out forced an early end to the tournament.

The following weekend, the Blitz took part in the Dartmouth Summer Blast tournament. They took first place after winning 8-2 over the Seekonk Spirit, 11-6 over the Dartmouth Dynamites and then tying the Hudson Demolition, 4-4, for seeding. They went on to win 14-0 in single elimination against the Dynamites, 9-1 over the Somerset Lightning and in the championship game, topping the Swansea Smash by an 8-4 margin. The Blitz had great hits by O'Leary, Casey Lopes, Paige Desrosiers and Megan Young, with continued great pitching from Green and Massa.

The Blitz continued their winning ways in the Taunton tournament. They started with an 11-6 win over the Weymouth Wildcats, followed by a 10-1 win against the Somerset Spirit and a 17-2 victory over the Barrington Diamonds before seeding. They then toppled the Boston Bandits 5-2, the Diamonds 8-1 and won the championship, 3-2, over the Spirit. Nina Rasmini and Nicole Andrade (two triples) had another great weekend, as did Kristin McCalister and Meghan Trudelle.

Through four tournaments, the Blitz are 19-4-1, and hope to improve upon that mark this weekend at a tournament in Hudson, N.H. The team is coached by Joe Andrade, Bill Green, Manny Lopes and Randy Trudelle.